Dianna Shandy

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

• Email: diannashandy@augustana.edu
• Office: Bahls CLC 116

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Dr. Dianna Shandy serves as the provost and vice president of academic affairs at Augustana College, where she is responsible for overseeing all academic programs and faculty affairs. As the college's chief academic officer, she plays a vital role in shaping the academic vision and strategic direction for the institution. She oversees CORE — the hub for many of Augustana's high-impact practices; the Augustana Prison Education Program; and the Center for Visual Culture. Dr. Shandy joined Augustana in July 2023, bringing more than 25 years of distinguished experience in higher education leadership.

Before joining Augustana, Dr. Shandy was the inaugural interim dean of the faculty, associate provost for strategic initiatives, and a professor of anthropology at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. In addition to her academic and administrative roles, Dr. Shandy was an American Council on Education leadership fellow at Elon University.

"My goal is to cultivate a culture that nurtures the holistic development of students, faculty, and staff. I believe in striving for excellence and never apologizing for holding ourselves to the highest standards." — Dr. Dianna Shandy

Recent initiatives:

• Leading a team that was awarded a $25,000 Cornerstone: Learning for Living planning grant from the Teagle Foundation. The competitive grant funds are being used for faculty professional development and to revise the college’s first-year general education curriculum.
• Launching the inaugural Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching and Scholarship at Augustana in 2024-2025, in support of faculty and staff excellence as teachers, scholars and mentors.
• Collaborating with the Presidential Center for Faith and Learning, the Department of Business Administration, and CORE to develop the Business Education Steeped in the Liberal Arts (BESLA) program.
• Hiring outstanding tenure track and professional faculty in accounting, biology, business administration, computer science, education, engineering, kinesiology and music. 
• Dr. Dianna Shandy selected as Augustana's next provost
• Augustana officials and students canvas neighborhoods for drinking water pipes survey

More than a leader

An anthropologist by training, her scholarly work and teaching focuses on migration and refugees, gender and work, and African and African diaspora studies. 

Dr. Shandy is the co/author of Nuer-American Passages: Globalizing Sudanese Migration; Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology; Glass Ceilings and 100-Hour Couples: What the Opt-Out Phenomenon Can Teach Us about Work and Family; and The Cultural Experience: Ethnography in a Complex Society, as well as dozens of articles. 

Her interest in financial matters goes beyond pursuing grant funding in support of teaching and learning. Dr. Shandy is on the finance committee for the American Anthropological Association, and confers regularly with Augustana's controller and CFO, which makes for some "lively discussions" and helps her advocate for faculty.

Born and raised on a farm in rural Kansas, she is married to Dr. David Power, a physician at the University of Minnesota. They have two children, Rhetta and Oran.

Specializations: Academic affairs